Not All Protesters Are Feeling Sorry For Lt. Watada

Not all of the hand full of protesters outside the Washington trial are feeling sorry for the deserter Watada…

Jeff Brigham, right, who opposes 1st Lt. Ehren Watada mingles near supporters of Watada near the gates of Fort Lewis Army Base, DuPont, Wash., on the day his court-martial begins Monday, Feb. 5, 2007. Watada announced last June that he would refuse to go to Iraq with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Now the 28-year-old Watada faces four years in prison if convicted on one count of missing movement and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

No surprise… The Huffington Post is calling the trial this week odf Lt. Watada a kangaroo court.

The Olympian reported on the charges against Watada:

Van Sweringen said that by Jan. 1, 2006, Watada had concluded that the Iraq war was illegal, but “rather than quietly accept the consequences of his decision” he publicly declared his intent not to deploy to Iraq.

On June 7, Watada released a video statement at a news conference in Tacoma.

“The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of Iraqis is not only a terrible and moral injustice, but it’s a contradiction to the Army’s own law of land warfare,” Watada said in the video. “My participation would make me a party to war crimes.”

On June 22, “he sat comfortably in his office” while his soldiers departed for Iraq. “Absent a leader they had trained with. Absent a leader they had trusted,” Van Sweringen told a seven-member panel of officers hearing the case.

…Watada has already admitted he didn’t get on the plane and that he made the statements in question, Seitz said in opening.

Unfortunately, for Lt. Watada, his speech to the antiwar activists was YouTubed and used as evidence in court today.
The court-martial trial is expected to be over by the end of the week.

Update: There is an excellent editorial in the Honolulu Advertiser on the Watada case.
Hat Tip TChahng

Jules Crittenden offers another take.

Previously on Watada:
How George Washington Would Deal With 1st Lt. Ehren WatadaBusted!… Lt. Watada’s AWOL Case Made Easy With YouTube
Moonbat Reporter Cries Foul at Trial of Deserter Watada
Shocker!… Actors & Activists Line Up to Support Deserter Watada

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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Thanks for sharing!